168 



May, 1914. 



American T^ee Joarnal| 



suit, but there are always a number of 

 facts to influence it," and I heartily 

 agree with him. But I further main- 

 tain that scent is the /rasl of all the 

 factors, admitting at the same time 

 that bees have an acute sense of smell 

 for some things. 



He says he upholds the theory that 

 it is the scent which enables the bees 

 to distinguish each other, and he cites 

 sex odor in moths. But I beg to call 

 his attention to the fact that the male 

 bees are not attracted to the queens by 

 odor, but by wing sound, just as with 

 mosquitoes, in which it can be ob- 

 served excellently. 



I admit that each co/o>iy may have its 

 individual odor, but I deny that a bee, 

 after a long foraging trip, will retain 

 enough of it to affect her reception by 

 an alien colony. On the contrary, 

 every observation indicates that it is 

 wholly the individual bee's behaz'ior 

 which governs her reception. 



Here are some facts which go far to 

 disprove the theory of the individual 

 odor affecting a bee's reception. A 

 worker returning laden from the field 

 may enter anywhere. Golden Italians 

 are the worst sneak thieves on record. 

 They enter any colony at any time un- 

 challenged, help themselves and take 

 their load away. There is no difficulty 

 in observing their behavior in an api- 

 ary of darker bees. 



Queenless bees will join a near by 

 colony with a queen, and no sign can 

 we see that the receiving colony no- 

 tices them as strangers. In one of my 

 apiaries I use many " baby nuclei," and 

 I transpose and move them at pleasure 

 and get no fighting. It may be said it 

 is because they all come from one 

 stock hive, but they do not. When I am 

 through with any of them, combs and 

 bees are set into any stock hive. Fight ? 

 Rarely. But the field bees from these 

 nuclei after hovering about the old 

 location may be seen going into near 

 by hives, both nuclei and full colonies 

 and not a challenge. Have they lost 

 their odor, or have the guards forgot- 

 ten to smell ? 



A drone can go in anywhere and not 

 be challenged, unless a colony is ex- 

 pelling its drones, and then no drone 

 can enter. Have not drones the odor 

 of their own colony ? 



Dr. Brunnich very properly ques- 

 tions the identity of unmarked queens. 

 I use a system far better than pa.nt. 

 All the queens of one year have the 

 wings on the right side clipped, all of 

 the next year those of the left side 

 clipped, and I requeen all colonies 

 every year. If I take out a lot of 

 queens with right wings clipped, and 

 run in a lot of new ones with left 

 wings clipped, and all my colonies so 

 treated have those left-wing clipped 

 queens there until the next year, it will 

 take something more than argument to 



convince me that the queens in those 

 hives are not the ones I put there. 



Dr. Brunnich works with black bees 

 which we Americans will not tolerate. 

 My work is chiefly with Italians, but I 

 requeen all black colonies I meet with- 

 in my inspection work by the direct 

 method, and have been as successful as 

 with Italians. 



\s to requeening without dequeen- 

 ing, I put it forward as something 

 worth further investigation in coiiiu-c- 

 tioii iL'ilfi the new method of introduc- 

 tion. I expressly stated that it was as 

 yet quite in the experimental stage, 

 but that it was promising enough to 

 warrant further research, and I believe 

 that if many are at work on it the 

 knowledge of its limitations will be the 

 sooner known. 



I beg that Dr. Brunnich will try the 

 new direct method again, for if he can 

 master it, he will find it of great help 

 and pleasure. 



Providence, R. I. 



Using Dry Combs to Prevent 

 Shaking Twice in Foulbrood 



BY THOS. CHANTRY. 



IN YOUR REPORT of the Iowa State 

 Beekeepers' Association the expla- 

 nation of my method described by 

 Mr. E. G. Brown, I fear is a little mis- 

 leading (page 50). It saysthatthe bees 

 at once deposit the honey of their sacs 

 into that dry comb, and by removing it 

 promptly there is no need of shaking 

 the second time. In reality it takes 

 two days to get the honey, and then 

 there must be a honey-flow. The sec- 

 ond day in the evening, during a honey- 

 flow, quickly remove the comb; brush 

 in front (not shake as some honey 

 might be shaken out), and place the 

 comb in a hospital or boil it. and in 

 mild cases that will cure. For the 

 worst cases use two or three old worth- 

 less combs and no starters for two 

 days. Then in the evening remove as 

 above and then use one drv comb and 

 starters as stated by Mr. Brown, and 

 your worst case is cured. Our reasons 

 for using this method is to prevent 

 absconding, which it doesto a minimum. 

 I have also proved that you can use 

 from four to six deposit combs (any 

 good dry, clean combs) for two days. 

 At any time of day take them away as 

 above stated, and repeat with other de- 

 posit combs according to size of 

 swarm for two days as before, taking 

 them away as before, and then give 

 those bees a full set of clean combs 

 and they are cured. These deposit 

 combs that contain the honey from the 

 bees along with their nectar may be 

 extracted and every cell filled with 

 water and then immersed in clear water 

 and weighted down for 24 hours, tlien 



the water thrown out and the comb 

 filled again with fresh water and rinsed 

 out. They are then clean and need not 

 be destroyed. 



We have also proved that all combs 

 from a foulbroody colony that are 

 completely filled with honey may be 

 cleaned by extracting and washing as 

 above, by filling and soaking 24 hours, 

 and filling again and rinsing them. 



This process is quicker than to melt 

 the combs and refill the frame with 

 foundation, if we are properly prepared 

 for it. It increases the yield consider- 

 ably more than the use of foundation. 



Wellington, Utah. 



A Cute Covkr — When in .Sioux City. Iowa, last fall I saw at Mr. F.spy's place a hive 

 cover madt; of cedar or cypress shineles. They were put thin to butt ends, and there 

 was a thickness of lar paper between them. I am not (luiti- sure about the cleat across 

 the ends. Init I think they were on. This could be doubled, buttint; a Winch strip be- 

 tween the two. and thus have a cool cover at a very nomiii.il cost, or one such as illus- 

 trated under a cover would serve that purpose. One should. I think, use a ?j-inch 

 wroutht nail tliat it miyht be clenched easily. Common wire nails are rather stiff.— A 

 F. BONNKV. 



Should We Retail Extracted 

 Honey in Liquid or Gran- 

 ulated Form? 



BY C. B. HOWARD. 



{RciiJ he fore the New York Association of Bee- 

 t^ee/'Crs' Societies.) 



I BELIEVE this is a very important 

 subject, and one that should be 

 studied and analyzed by all pro- 

 ducers of extracted honey, so that 

 they may be able to place their 

 products before the consumer in the 

 most salable and profitable form. 



The beekeepers are going into the 

 production of extracted honey more 

 and more each year, and it behooves 

 theiTi to try to create a larger demand 

 for their products from the retail mer- 

 chants. Putting up extracted honey 

 in the liquid form in glass packages for 

 which the consumer has to pay from 20 

 to 80 cents per pound, is well enough as 

 far as it goes, but the trouble with this 

 method is that it does not dispose of 

 the honey in sufficient quantities to 

 move the ever increasing supply caused 

 by the beekeepers changing from comb 

 to extracted honey production. 



If the production of extracted honey 

 is to be more profitable than comb, it is 

 necessary to be able to sell the same 

 for at least a trifle more than half the 

 price of comb honey, and we should 

 be able to place it before the masses at 

 a price that will appeal to them as be- 

 ing an economical food as well as a 

 wholesome and delicious luxury. 



In retailing extracted honey it de- 

 pends largely upon conditions whether 

 it should be in the liquid or granulated 

 form. If it is being peddled out or 

 sold and delivered direct to the con- 

 suirer in glass jars or tin pails, it is 

 usually best to have it in the liquid 

 form. This method is all right fpr 

 small quantities, but the trouble is, the 

 honey is only oft'ered for sale by a few 

 producers and to a very small percent- 

 age of the consumers. 



What appears to me to be the right 

 and best way to get the public to use 

 extracted honey is to sell it in the 

 granulated form through the regular 

 channels of trade, the produce stores. 



The following method seems to be 

 the best way to obtain these results: 

 Have tin trays made about one inch 

 larger than a (iO-pound can of honey 

 laid on its side, with the sides of the 

 tray about one inch high so as to re- 

 tain any honey that might become dis- 

 lodged, place these in the store where 

 the honey is to be sold, in a glass 



